Can somebody please explain to me what a "trap" is and what's so fascinating about them? A lot of those "traps" are posing as nerdy "gamer girls" which seems to have originated as a social media trend. Thus my question: are they really transgender or is the whole thing just a trendy cosplay? Now I don't want to offend anyone but many of these traps strike me as mentally unstable people.

Also, this trap thing seems like a North American fad. TS ladies in South America and Asia are trying to look like women and not like manga characters who think that watching them playing video games is an act of sexual ecstasy.

Fact is that they're very popular and a lot of sites like Shemale Yum have jumped on the trap bandwagon. But maybe I don't really understand what a trap is which is why I'm starting this thread. I'd appreciate your opinions.

Like so many terms, this one seems to mean whatever the user wants it to mean. Here is a definition of “trap” from “Know Your Meme”:

Quote:

“Trap” is an internet slang term used online for transgender people and androgynous anime characters. Frequently used on 4chan, the word is a taken from the popular Admiral Ackbar meme It’s a Trap and used to express the fear that transgender people are attempting to trick or confuse others through their appearance, i.e. a trans-woman coercing a cis-male into sex without disclosing that they have male genitalia.
While the term has mostly been used in as a pejorative, some within transgendered community have begun attempting to reclaim the word. However, this is still being debated.
Beginning in 2004, the Admiral Ackbar quote spawned hundreds of parody sites featuring the soundbite of Admiral Ackbar’s quote on YTMND, with the most notable instance uploaded by user MultiKoopa on June 2nd, 2005, which has garnered more than 313,000 views (as of April 2016).
Around the same time, shortly after the launch of the imageboard community 4chan, the phrase became closely associated with traps, a slang term for a photograph of a model or illustration of an anime character wherein the gender of the subject seems to be ambiguous or androgynous in appearance.
4chan users, in addition to creating the internet theme day “Trap Thursday,” described androgynous anime characters as “traps,” a long tradition within anime and manga. According to user coleopterist on the website Stack Exchange, the the first trap character comes from Osamu Tezuka’s 1949 manga, Metropolis features the first male-to-female “trap” character.

Many, including myself, consider “trap” derogatory in that it implies “deception” and refrain from using it. As far as any pictures I’ve ever posted on TLB, correct or not, If I do not know the gender of that person I always tend to err on the side of referring to them as a woman, or if I know their name, addressing them by that leaving the question of gender open.

Michael (now Mia) Nowlan, Frank Wolf, and the gorgeous blonde unidentified “femboys” I posted recently might well be considered “traps” by some. Personally, I would love to be able to call any one of them my “girlfriend,” “partner,” or “lover.” Tragically Frank committed suicide in 2013 due to Internet bullying.

As for as the term “trap” being associated with “cosplay” I believe that what you are seeing is the porn industry exploiting the interest among younger people in gaming and related activities. If they can take characters (like Pikachu, Anna and Elsa, or Rapunzel) and present them in a sexual context they will (even “Shrek” is not immune—what has been seen cannot be unseen… ).

Was looking at “Harley Quinn” costumes with my niece on-line yesterday. She is already planning for Halloween. The “Harley Quinn’s” that are out there run the gamut from non-sexualized children’s costumes, to Lego figures, to the very beautiful Margot Robbie from the movie “Suicide Squad,” to “cosplay” to hardcore porn.

Sorry my answer is so long. Hope this helps. I’m sure others can give you a better definition of “trap.”

I was always under the impression the term "trap" came out of urban slang for passable tgirls. I never liked it much and consider it derogatory like the phrase "she-male". I'll be the first to admit that I objectify many transexual models and performers as sexual fantasies but I try to respect their humanity.

I was always under the impression the term "trap" came out of urban slang for passable tgirls. I never liked it much and consider it derogatory like the phrase "she-male". I'll be the first to admit that I objectify many transexual models and performers as sexual fantasies but I try to respect their humanity.

That is also my understanding. The idea of getting "trapped" is that the tgirl is so much like a natural girl than an unassuming admirer would be completely fooled into thinking she was one.

I don't believe it is a phenomenon as much as a normal process. Like someone said about nerdy game girls and posing as such. I don't think they are posing as much as testing themselves. I may be wrong but it is a way of trying something before committing to it fully. It is a way out sort of.

This shit is scary. It is a pain in the ass to shave your legs and everywhere else everyday. I can go a day without shaving my legs but my face? No and that is a pain in the ass getting baby smooth until your skin gets used to it. Before your skin toughens up to take the blade you get razor burned and still even after sometimes. It is a pain in the ass with the plucking and tweezing and learning how to do your makeup just right to pass reasonably well. I loved the eighties with the over-the-top makeup for women. Now it is more subtle. It is scary to go into a department store and shop in the women's sections and so on. If you have an excuse then it makes you feel a little more comfortable and so a lot of people use the androgynous character thing.

There is a phenomenon now and I ain't judging no way no how but that is the non binary, gender queer and androgynous thing. I feel feminine and always have even before it was a political thing. I do enjoy things that are more masculine like camping, hiking, hunting and shooting guns. But a lot of cis women do too. I am not special and don't wanted to be treated as such. I am not a protected class either. No one is we are all just people and that is it. If someone don't like me because I am trans then why would I want them to accept me and be my friend? I would rather know when someone don't like me so I can either use their business or services and then spread the word around. If someone hates me then that is there right, just like I have a right not to like someone myself.

To the poster that doesn't like the term shemale. I guess I am a little different because I am a shemale. I am a she in a male body. The context of how terms are used is what should insult us and not labels. Shemale is hot on porn sights. There are a lot of guys that know that term endearingly and without malice. Tranny is the same. Why should I be insulted? It just shows that a lot of men, even straight men find us attractive.

Self realization and a strong sense of self identity is a long hard process for everyone and I do mean everyone. Then you have sexual identity and gender identity on top of that?

In short. Traps aren't trying to trap anyone. They are just finding their own identity with a lifeline back if need be. When I was younger and prettier I guess anyone could have called me a trap but I was full blown though. But in the very beginning I would go and buy, shoes, clothes and makeup for my "girlfriend". I learned how to play the guitar just because of being able to pierce both of my ears, buy makeup and do other feminine things for gigs and blame it on the gigs. That was the eighties in the height of hair metal. Now instead of using hair metal to do these things so now there are protected classes due to politics. I am not going to say it sux but where were they when I was growing up? I grew up in Arkansas and Bill Clinton was the Governor and yes he was married to Hillary back then. She was pretty back them but she hated everyone especially women. What is a trans gender person to a politician? A vote and that is it. They don't care about any issues that anyone goes through other than keeping them in office. Personally I am a Libertarian but a Log Cabin Republican because I remember what Obama and Hillary thought about gay marriage before they were for it to maintain power.

God! Before that long rant thingy I went on. Just enjoy their beauty. If you find them attractive then so be it. If they have a penis and you find them attractive and feminine then don't be ashamed. Reassure them if you want to date them. Make them feel good about themselves. It may not last forever on one's or the other's part but they are trying to find themselves. I am lucky because a man reassured me and with a few hiccups and still testing myself after the relationship fell apart I figured it out and embraced it and cut the lifeline back to what I never really was to begin with.

One last thing before I shut up. Who are we going to let dictate us? Our own individuality and mind or society? What makes us happier, being our own individual and finding love whenever it comes even though it may not be permanent or how we are seen in society?

I talked to a ladyboy from Philippines who described herself as a "trap" online. I did not ask her what she meant by the term but I believe she meant she was confident in her beauty and appearance. She was really into online sex gaming that I am not participant with either.

Her profile picture showed her as really cute and I do not believe deception would be part of her style. I agree with the others who say "trap" means good looking and beautiful.

I talked to a ladyboy from Philippines who described herself as a "trap" online. I did not ask her what she meant by the term but I believe she meant she was confident in her beauty and appearance. She was really into online sex gaming that I am not participant with either.

Her profile picture showed her as really cute and I do not believe deception would be part of her style. I agree with the others who say "trap" means good looking and beautiful.

Spidermam69. On line in kind of safe. Online sex gaming, never really heard of it but there are a lot of things I haven't heard of. Personally I like the real thing better.

But the gaming and the internet provides a really good way of testing the water before jumping in.

I think some of the fascination may come from people who aren't comfortable with who they are and who they are attracted to just looking for a way to not feel guilty. Societal conventions and pressures can really mess people up, and if you are tricked into liking something society says you shouldn't, then it's not really on you. Now I think that is shitty, and as someone who grew up in a very conservative religious house, it especially bugs me. People should be free to be who they are and love who they love and not feel judged for it.

I also think in some cases it's a can be a positive thing. If a "trap" helps you to realize something about yourself, that's a good thing, right? We are all just people trying to find our way.

Finally, I think part of it is simply that people are attracted to taboos. If society tells me I shouldn't like something, of course it's gonna make me want to learn more about it.

I get why people are offended by the term, and while I'm not great at it, I try to get my language right. However, until society grows up, we'll always be stuck with uncomfortable terms. All you can do is try to treat everyone with empathy and do your best to understand them.

All that being said, I am attracted to the concept of blurred gender lines, and most people I've seen who refer to themselves as "traps" are totally hot to me.